Interactions between baculoviruses and entomophagous insects

Abstract

Some laboratory studies revealed that predators can readily attack and consume virus-infected prey with no detrimental effects on their biological parameters. Most tested predacious species did not discriminate between healthy and virus-infected prey. In addition, such predators were found to excrete detectable amounts of polyhedral inclusion bodies for few days that might infect healthy prey. Field studies demonstrated that the population densities and dispersal of the predators were not affected in fields sprayed with entomopathogenic virus formulations. Some laboratory studies stated that egg and larval parasitoids did not discriminate between healthy and virus surface-contaminated or virus-infected hosts. However, some parasitoids did not lay or laid few eggs in virus-infected hosts. Parasitoid adults that laid eggs in virus-infected host larvae could transmit the virus to healthy hosts through the ovipositor. Also, adult parasitoids emerged from virus-infected hosts transmitted the virus to healthy hosts whereas other parasitoids did not transmit the virus.