Baculoviruses have been used for management of lepidopteran pests in a number of niche markets. Advantages of use of baculovirus insecticides include that they have a narrow host range and are relatively safe for nontarget organisms. However, the commercial use of baculovirus insecticides has been limited because of the relatively slow speed of kill compared to chemical insecticides. Recombinant baculoviruses have been constructed for improved insecticidal efficacy. AcMLF9.ScathL is a recombinant baculovirus that expresses a basement membrane-degrading protease. AcMLF9.ScathL reduces the survival time and feeding damage of AcMLF9.ScathL -infected Heliothis virescens larvae when compared to those of wild type virus, AcMNPVC6 -infected larvae. Before field trials can be conducted with AcMLF9.ScathL, risk assessment studies are required. One of the categories of tests required by the United States Environmental Protection Agency concerns the risk posed by use of AcMLF9.ScathL to nontarget organisms, including those that play a beneficial role in agriculture, such as pollinators, insect predators, and parasitoids. Laboratory studies were conducted to identify any deleterious effects of AcMLF9.ScathL on the life history traits of the parasitoid Cotesia marginiventris. Choice tests showed that infection of H. virescens with AcMLF9.ScathL did not affect host preference of the parasitoid. AcMLF9.ScathL reduced the larval and adult survival of C. marginiventris compared to the wild type virus when the hosts were infected with a high dose of virus (>LC99) at 72 hour post parasitism, but not at a low dose (LC50). The survival of the parasitoid was not significantly different between the wild type virus and recombinant virus treatments at 96- and 120 hour post parasitism. There were no significant differences between AcMLF9.ScathL and wild type virus treatments for the parasitoid larval emergence time, adult emergence time, sex ratio, size, and fecundity. One-third of the parasitoids that developed within diseased hosts tested positive for AcMLF9.ScathL and were able to transmit virus to healthy larvae. These results indicate that the use of AcMLF9.ScathL may pose a slightly higher risk to parasitoids when compared to use of wild type virus if infection occurs at 72 hours post parasitism.