Lack of specialist nidicoles as a characteristic of mite assemblages inhabiting nests of the ground-nesting wood warbler, Phylloscopus sibilatrix (Aves: Passeriformes)

AbstractBird and mammal nests provide microhabitats that support a range of other species, including invertebrates. However, the variation between communities of nest-dwelling invertebrates in different nests is poorly understood. The major aim of this study was to analyze the assemblage structure of mites from the suborder Uropodina (Acari: Mesostigmata) and from superfamily Crotonioidea (Acari: Oribatida) inhabiting nests of the wood warbler, Phylloscopus sibilatrix (Aves: Passeriformes), located on a forest floor in Białowieża Forest, in eastern Poland. We also assessed the correlation between the nest material used by the birds with the assemblage structure of Uropodina mites, and compa…