Invertebrates, including aphids, leafhoppers, flies, bees, ants, and silkworms, serve as natural hosts.

[1][2] Diseases associated with this family include: DCV: increased reproductive potential.

The Dicistroviridae can be distinguished from the members of the taxa by the location of their structural protein genes at the 3' end rather than the 5' end (as found in Iflavirus, Picornaviridae and Secoviridae) and by having two genomic segments rather than a single one (as in the Comovirus).

Translation takes place by viral initiation, and ribosomal skipping.

For example, the Cripaviruses have an internal ribosome entry site,[4] which mimics a Met-tRNA and is used in the initiation of translation.