Family: Chuviridae

Genus: Scarabeuvirus

Distinguishing features

Scarabeuviruses are primarily distinguished from viruses of other genera in the family based on nucleic acid sequence and organization differences (Di Paola et al., 2022). Members of the genus Scarabeuvirus have L protein sequences that are >31% identical to each other.

Genome organization and replication

Scarabeuviruses have nonsegmented linear, bisegmented linear, or bisegmented circular genomes of 10.8–11.9 kb (S1: 6.7–7.3 kb; S2: 4–4.8 kb) with three to four ORFs encoding a glycoprotein (GP), a large (L) protein with an RNA-directed RNA polymerase (RdRP) domain, a nucleoprotein (NP) and/or a protein of unknown function (Li et al., 2015, Shi et al., 2016, Viljakainen et al., 2020, Wu et al., 2020). The replication cycle of scarabeuviruses remains to be elucidated.

Biology

Scarabeuviruses have been associated with araneaen arachnids and blattodean, coleopteran, hymenopteran, and odonatan insects as follows:

• Húběi chuvirus-like virus 1 (HbCLV1) has been associated with unspecified dragonflies/damselflies (Odonata) in China (Shi et al., 2016);
• Húběi chuvirus-like virus 3 (HbCLV3) has been associated with unspecified dragonflies/damselflies (Odonata) in China (Shi et al., 2016);
• Lampyris noctiluca chuvirus-like virus 1 (LNClV1) has been associated with common glow-worms (lampyrid Lampyris noctiluca (Linnaeus, 1767)) in Finland (Viljakainen et al., 2020);
• Lĭshì spider virus 1 (LsSV1) has been associated with common house spiders (theridiid Parasteatoda tepidariorum (C. L. Koch, 1841)) in China (Li et al., 2015);
• Supella longipalpa mononega-like virus 2 (SLmlV2) has been associated with brown-banded cockroaches (ectobiid Supella longipalpa Fabricius, 1798) in Japan (Wu et al., 2020);
• Trichopria drosophilae mononega-like virus (TDmlV) has been associated with parasitoid wasps (diaprioid Trichopria drosophilae (Perkins, 1910)) in France (Wu et al., 2020); and
• Wǔchāng cockroach virus 3 (WcLFV3) has been associated with German cockroaches (ectobiid Blattella germanica Linnaeus, 1767) in China (Li et al., 2015).

Species demarcation criteria

Members of different species have amino-acid identities of complete L sequences of <90% (Di Paola et al., 2022).

Related, unclassified viruses

Virus names and virus abbreviations are not official ICTV designations.

* Incomplete genome