ABSTRACT
The Polydnaviridae is a family consisting of certain viruses which replicate in the ovaries of some species of parasitic hymenoptera. Although originally classified in subgroup D of the Baculoviridae, they are clearly unrelated to the insect baculoviruses and are now properly in their own Polydnaviridae family. Braconid polydnaviruses are morphologically similar, in some respects, to the insect baculoviruses. Many parasitic hymenoptera have been shown by electron microscopy to contain polydnaviruses. There has been some effort devoted to determining the relatedness of polydnaviruses from different ichneumonid parasites. In some ichneumonid polydnaviruses the range in size can be broader than just described and some circles can be quite large. The significance of the cross hybridization observed among some circular deoxyribonucleic acids of both ichneumonid and braconid polydnaviruses is unknown. The polydnavirus is transmitted during oviposition to larvae of the habitual host of the parasitoid.
