Many plant viruses are transmitted by insect vectors, such as leafhoppers. Viral infections of the vectors are non-lethal and cause limited damage to ensure viral persistence and efficient spread. In this study, Chen, Zheng et al. show that infection of leafhoppers with the reovirus rice gall dwarf virus induces apoptosis to promote viral replication and transmission by the insect vector. Fibrillar structures composed of viral non-structural protein Pns11 interacted with voltage-dependent anion channels on the outer membrane of mitochondria, which lead to the induction of apoptosis. Moreover, expression levels of apoptosis-related genes increased and then decreased during the latent period, with viral transcript levels also increasing rapidly and then remaining stable. The findings suggest that the virus-induced apoptotic response is modulated to prevent pathology in the vector.