Pathway of infection of mosquito iridescent virus. I. Preliminary observations on the fate of ingested virus.

Mosquito iridescent virus (MIV) is ingested in large amounts by first- and second-instar Aedes taeniorhynchus larvae without causing a high rate of infection. Electron microscope studies have been undertaken to determine the fate of ingested virus. Preliminary observations suggest that most, if not all, ingested particles are degraded shortly after entering the midgut. MIV and other virus particles employed in this study were apparently unable to penetrate the peritrophic membrane; consequently, none was observed inside, or in contact with, midgut epithelial cells.