Oyster Mushrooms, like other fungi, are good food and habitat for small creatures, such as Fungus Gnats, Horned Fungus Beetles, and springtails. These small animals also help spread spores (like seeds of a plant) so that new Oyster Mushrooms can grow in new places.

Larger animals that eat fungi, such as Oyster Mushrooms, include Eastern Box Turtles, White-tailed Deer, and Eastern Gray Squirrels.

When Oyster Mushrooms grow on living trees, they are parasites, since they take nutrients from the tree, but don't give anything back.

Relationships in Nature:

Animals Using as Food Source	Animals Using as Shelter	Associations With Plants	OTHER
Fungus Gnat	Fungus Gnat	Black Willow	Fungus Gnat D
Horned Fungus Beetle	Horned Fungus Beetle	American Beech	Horned Fungus Beetle D
Snow Flea	Snow Flea	American Elm	Snow Flea D
White-tailed Deer		Yellow Poplar	Eastern Gray Squirrel D
Eastern Box Turtle		Mockernut Hickory	Dogwood Borer SP
Eastern Gray Squirrel		White Oak	Bigtooth Aspen H
		Red Maple	Black Willow H
		Sweetgum	American Beech H
		Eastern White Pine	American Elm H
			Yellow Poplar H
			Mockernut Hickory H
			White Oak H
			Red Maple H
			Sweetgum H
			Eastern White Pine H

Relationship to Humans:

Oyster Mushrooms are edible and a favorite among wild mushroom collectors. However, some people are allergic to them and have a bad reaction when they eat them. More importantly, there are many species of poisonous mushrooms in the wild, and some of them look a lot like Oyster Mushrooms. REMEMBER, never eat a wild mushroom without checking with an expert first!!

SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION

KINGDOM Fungi DIVISION Basidiomycota CLASS Hymenomycetes ORDER Agaricales FAMILY Tricholomataceae GENUS Pleurotus SPECIES Pleurotus ostreatus

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