Baculoviruses are insect specific viruses. They are mainly found in lepidoptera and hymenoptera but also in coleoptera, diptera and some crustacea. This group of viruses is known to be highly specific and able only to infect very closely related species.

They infect their host by first being ingested and then being produced by the host’s intestinal and fat body cells and other insect tissues. Infected cells eventually rupture thus liberating newly formed virus particles into the gut lumen where they will attack other cells. The progressive increase of new virus particles and the subsequent death of an increasing number of host gut cells eventually leads to the death of the host. From the decaying host the virus particles are released into the environment where they can be ingested by other hosts. Only targeted insects can be infected by the released viruses.

Baculoviruses consist only of a DNA virus surrounded by layers of protective protein molecules that render them highly resistant to abiotic factors such as temperature and humidity. Consequently they have a long shelf-life and persist well in the environment.

Contrary to chemical products, baculoviruses have to be counted among the living beings like other pathogens even though they do not display any of the characteristics that are used to distinguish living beings from non-living objects. However, they share with other life forms the important ability of genetic change. Therefore, they are able to follow changes in the insect hosts by mutations in their own genome. This ability allows them to overcome the selection of resistance in a given insect population and gives them a great advantage over chemical products.

Their greatest advantage, however, is their high host specificity. This fact accounts for the complete environmental safety of baculoviruses. They are no threat to any other member of the ecosystem including humans, and they do not leave behind any threatening residues.

Their ability to efficiently kill insect larvae and to multiply themselves in the host, their long shelf-life, their ability to adapt to changes in their host and their complete environmental safety characterize baculoviruses as the most promising means in insect pest control for the future.

It has been estimated that baculoviruses are capable of replacing 80% of the chemical insecticides currently used in agriculture applications. Baculoviruses are in fact considered to be the ideal component of IPM programs.




Baculoviruses are particularly suited for biological insect pest control because of:

1. their host specificity (minimal effect on non-target species),
2. their safety for the environment and human health,
3. their compatibility with all other control approaches including chemical pesticides,
4. the variety of species-specific viruses,
5. their high degree of efficacy in controlling the targeted pests,
6. the absence, until now, of occurrence of resistance to wild-type baculoviruses
7. the relative protection from abiotic influences conferred by the occlusion proteins,
8. the long shelf-life of baculoviruses,
9. the possibility of a long-term control (especially in forest ecosystems), and
10. the economic feasibility of virus production.