**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** VIRUSES ARE VALUABLE MEMBERS OF THE BIOSPHERE. VIRUSES ARE THE MOST ABUNDANT SOURCE OF GENETIC INFORMATION IN THE ENVIRONMENT; HOWEVER, OUR LIMITED KNOWLEDGE OF THEIR SEQUENCES HAS LEFT US AT A DISADVANTAGE.THEY PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE INSECT VECTORS OF PLANT PATHOGENS AS WELL. THE VIRUSES IN INSECTS CAN BE SPLIT INTO MULTIPLE CATEGORIES: INSECT-SPECIFIC VIRUSES (ISVS), PLANT AND INSECT-INFECTING ARBOVIRUSES, PLANT-ONLY INFECTING VIRUSES, AND THE MICROBIOME-INFECTING VIRUSES THAT INTERACT WITH THE INSECT ENDOSYMBIOTIC COMMUNITIES.FOUR CATEGORIES OF VIRUSES IN INSECTS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED INCLUDING INSECT-SPECIFIC VIRUSES (ISVS), DUAL PLANT AND INSECT INFECTING VIRUSES, PLANT-ONLY INFECTING VIRUSES, AND INSECT MICROBIOME VIRUSES. WITH THE DIVERSITY OF VIRUSES IN NATURE, A VARIETY OF RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN VIRUSES AND THE ENDOSYMBIONTS CAN OCCUR IN INSECTS. INSECTS HARBOR ENDOSYMBIONTS THAT ARE CRITICAL FOR THEIR SUCCESS AND CAN MODULATE THEIR LIFECYCLE AND REPRODUCTION. HOWEVER, ONCE VIRUSES ARE INTRODUCED, THE PICTURE BECOMES MORE COMPLICATED. THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO OBTAIN NEW VIRAL INFORMATION REGARDING THREE INSECT SPECIES, TWO THRIPS SPECIES THAT VECTOR AGRONOMICALLY IMPORTANT VIRUSES AND ONE APHID SPECIES WHICH IS A COSMOPOLITAN SPECIES THAT HAS BEEN FOUND TO TRANSMIT SEVERAL DIFFERENT AGRICULTURALLY IMPORTANT VIRUSES INCLUDING COTTON LEAFROLL DWARF VIRUS AND CITRUS TRISTEZA VIRUS.