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Nests of the harvest mouse (Micromys minutus) as habitat for invertebrates

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Abstract

The nests of the harvest mouse (Micromys minutus) from an extensively used farmland in Western Poland were recognized as a place of occurrence of a large group of invertebrates. In total, from 42 nests 6,544 individuals of invertebrates were extracted. The number of invertebrates was positively correlated with mass of mouse nests. There were found arthropods belonging to the following groups: Arachnida: spiders, mites and pseudoscorpions; Entognatha: springtails; Insecta: Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Psocoptera, Siphonaptera and Thysanoptera. The most numerous groups were mites (Acari, 5,800 individuals) and fleas (Siphonaptera, 415 individuals). Among mites Astigmatida, Mesostigmata and Oribatida were identified. One species, Tyrophagus curvipenis (Acari: Astigmatina), was found in Poland for the first time. The study clearly showed that nests of the harvest mouse are often inhabited by invertebrates, and looks like some of them are characteristic to this particular kind of habitat.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Systematic Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Umultowska 89, 61-614, Poznan, Poland

    Agata J. Krawczyk

  2. Department of Ecology and Environmentalistics, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Faculty of Natural Science, Nitra, Slovakia

    Gabriela Augustiničová

  3. Department of Forest Pathology, University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 71c, 60-625, Poznan, Poland

    Dariusz J. Gwiazdowicz

  4. Natural History Collections, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Umultowska 89, 61-614, Poznan, Poland

    Szymon Konwerski

  5. Department of Zoology, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Akademicka 19, 20-033, Lublin, Poland

    Halina Kucharczyk

  6. Institute of Ecology and Bioethics, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, Wóycickiego 1/3, 01-938, Warsaw, Poland

    Izabella Olejniczak

  7. Kolejowa 24A/1, 62-070, Dąbrówka, Poland

    Tomasz Rutkowski

  8. Department of Ecology, University of Silesia, Bankowa 9, 40-007, Katowice, Poland

    Piotr Skubała

  9. Department of Parasitology, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, School of Pharmacy with the Division of Laboratory Medicine in Sosnowiec, Jednosci 8, 41-218, Sosnowiec, Poland

    Krzysztof Solarz

  10. Institute of Zoology, Poznan University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 71 C, 60-625, Poznan, Poland

    Zuzanna Zdrojewska & Piotr Tryjanowski

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  1. Agata J. Krawczyk
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Krawczyk, A.J., Augustiničová, G., Gwiazdowicz, D.J. et al. Nests of the harvest mouse (Micromys minutus) as habitat for invertebrates. Biologia 70, 1637–1647 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1515/biolog-2015-0186

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