Arsenophonus bacteria have been identified in a diversity of insect taxa, including economically important species such as the Western honey bee[4][5] and the rice pest Nilaparvata lugens.

Infection with Arsenophonus nasoniae triggers the death of approximately 80% of the wasps male offspring.

However, horizontal transmission during superparasitism of a single fly pupae by multiple wasp females is required for symbiont spread [14].

The diversity of interactions between Arsenophonus and insects has led to the genus being adopted, alongside Sodalis, as one where it is possible to investigate the genetic and evolutionary changes associated with different types of symbiosis.

This was considered a consequence of loss of CRISPR-Cas defences, hypothesized to be driven by reduce phage predation rates in strongly host associated endosymbionts.