An iridovirus from bees.

An iridovirus, Apis iridescent virus (AIV), isolated from sick adult specimens of Apis cerana (Hymenoptera) from Kashmir, closely resembles iridescent viruses from Tipula and Sericesthis spp. (TIV and SIV). However, AIV is only distantly related serologically to TIV and SIV and is even more remotely related to several other similar viruses that were tested in tube precipitation tests with intact particles. AIV multiplies in Apis mellifera, forming cytoplasmic iridescent crystalline aggregates in several tissues, but unlike all the other iridoviruses tested, it failed to multiply in Galleria mellonella.