Nests of the white stork Ciconia ciconia (L.) as a habitat for mesostigmatic mites (Acari, Mesostigmata)

This study was intended to define the mesostigmatic mite species that occur in the nests of the white stork, and to identify their role in the life of their host. The results are derived from 3 8 samples from 12 nests, which contained a total of 13,3 52 individuals and 34 species. Among the most frequent species were Macrocheles merdarius, M. robustulus, Uroobovella pyriformis and Trichouropoda orbicularis, which represented almost 85% of all the specimens collected. There was a high frequency of coprophilous predatory mites that feed on the eggs and larvae of insects and on nematodes, which undoubtedly affects the abundance of these invertebrate groups in nests. Literature records and new observations suggest that phoresy on various beetles and dipteran phoronts can be the main mode of dispersal of mites into the nests.