Dr. Cara Gibson talk on insects and fungi

by Fungi/Mushrooms

On Nov 8, Dr. Cara Gibson kicked off the annual Metchosin MycoBlitz (the seventh annual event) with an amazing talk on the way mushrooms and insects interact.  

Insects and fungi, as Cara pointed out, are both underdescribed groups.  When you ask about the interactions between groups with question marks around them, you get even more question marks!

 

A packed audience turned out to hear the talk.

Participants brought in boxes of mushrooms for everyone to see. Ai Linh and Juliet were among the members of the South Vancouver Island Mycological Society who turned up to hear the talk and to chat with visitors about the different kinds of mushrooms.

Dr. Gibson stayed around after the talk to field questions from members of the audience.

For more about the next day’s MycoBlitz forays, see the Metchosin Biodiversity Project’s report on bioblitz events.

Cara Gibson on Insects and Mushrooms

by Fungi/Mushrooms

The seventh Metchosin MycoBlitz will take place on Friday and Saturday, November 8-9, 2019.

The MycoBlitz doubles as November’s Metchosin Talk and Walk event. Please join us Friday November 8, 2019, 7:00 pm, for a talk by Dr. Cara Gibson, an expert on the relationships between insects and fungi. The talk, as usual, will be at the Metchosin Municipal Hall Council Chambers. See the attached poster for more information on the talk.

The Saturday Walk part of the Talk and Walk will be the Metchosin MycoBlitz. The November 9 MycoBlitz will start at the parking lot of the Metchosin Municipal Hall, 4450 Happy Valley Road (just behind the Fire Hall) at 9:00 am. A number of mycology specialists will be on hand to lead us to several Metchosin locations. At these locations the experts will do field identification and collect samples of mushrooms for table display and further study. Everyone is invited to join one of these forays–the only requirement is a desire to know more about mushrooms. The more eyes on the gorund, the more mushrooms we find. (Rain or shine, so dress appropriately. Kids always welcome, but please leave Fido at home.)

The foray groups will return to the Municipal Hall by noon. At 12:10 pm, guests are invited to attend a mini-film fest at the nearly Metchosin Firehall. Bring a brown bag lunch (popcorn, coffee and tea will be provided) and eat it while you watch a Nature of Things episode on Fungi.  After the film, walk back to to the Council Chambers and see, from 2-4 pm, the immense bounty of Metchosin fungal species that the expert have laid out and labeled for our Metchosin inventory of species.