[citation needed] The spheroidal, non-enveloped virus particles of CrPV are about 27 nm diameter in negatively-stained electron micrographs and contain a single piece of positive-sense ssRNA.

[2][3][4] CrPV has been detected in a number of insect species from at least five different orders of the class Insecta, in both natural and laboratory populations, and is usually identified by standard serological methods.

In laboratory experiments CrPVbrk proved to be extremely infectious and pathogenic for adult Ceratitis capitata (Mediterranean fruit fly).

[8] Detailed studies have also been made on the use of a CrPV strain to control the European olive fruit fly (Dacus oleae).

[13] Whatever the causative virus, switching to a different species for American breeders is more difficult than it is in Europe, as Acheta domesticus is currently the only cricket approved for commercial distribution, and any new proposals are scrutinized through a permitting process.

The fact that a demonstrable cytopathic effect was also produced in these cultured cell infections led to the development of sensitive titration assay methods similar to those employed in studies of mammalian picornaviruses.

[14] Early studies conducted in the 1970s and 1980s showed the occurrence of post-translational processing of a large polyprotein produced during the course of infection of Drosophila cells with CrPV.