any virus that is ARTHROPOD-borne, e.g. the yellow-fever virus carried by the mosquito Aedes aegypti. arbovirus (arthropod-borne) one that replicates in an arthropod, which acts as a vector in transmission of the virus to a susceptible vertebrate host in which replication also occurs. See also togaviridae, bunyaviridae, reoviridae, rhabdoviridae, arenaviridae. Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary, 3 ed.