viii PREFACE an environmental perspective. Viral diseases in beneficial insects can lead to ecological problems, while diseases of insect pests are often welcomed as a means of reducing economic and medical problems. Furthermore, like the baculoviruses, some of the viruses described in this volume are likely to become valuable tools in the escalating human efforts to control and manipulate the ecosystem.The large DNA viruses are described first, beginning with the entomopoxviruses and iridoviruses, followed by those that rely more heavily on insect vectors for their propagation, and then the small DNA densoviruses. These are followed by the RNA viruses, beginning with an account of the three-dimensional structures of small RNA viruses, followed by chapters describing each of the major families of insect RNA viruses, and ending with a review of the development of arbovirus expression systems and how they may be employed in the future.