The mode of transmission of Tipula iridescent virus: I. Source of infection

A virus was isolated from a diseased tipulid larva and identified as Tipula iridescent virus (TIV) on the basis of the size and morphology of the virion, the production of iridescence in vitro and in infected tipulid larvae, and a serological reaction between antiserum against the virus and an isolate of TIV.A stock of Tipula oleracea was bred in the laboratory. Subjection of larvae to several stress factors did not result in any evidence for activation of a latent virus. Healthy T. oleracea larvae did not develop iridescence when confined in petri dishes with either live TIV-infected larvae or with large amounts of their feces, although these feces were found to contain infective virus by injecting extracts into healthy larvae. It appears that the concentration of virus in the feces of infected larvae is not high enough for them to serve as a source of infection. It was shown that the cadavers of TIV-infected larvae can serve as a source of infection for healthy first- and fourth-instar larvae.