A cysteine- rich protein encoded by Cotesia plutellae bacovirus (CpBV) was identified in the parasitized Plutella xylostella. The gene, called CpBV-CRP, encodes 189 amino acids with a signal peptide of 20 residues at N-terminus determined by bioinformatic analysis, suggesting a secretory protein. High CpBV-CRP expression in the parasitized P. xylostella was observed at early days after parasitization and decreased with the course of parasitization. Expression of CpBV-CRP was tissue-specific in the fat body/epidermis, but not in hemocyte and gut. Its physiological function was analyzed by transient expression of a CpBV segment containing CpBV-CRP. The treated larvae underwent an immunosuppression in terms of hemocyte-spreading behavior. When the treated larvae were also co-injected with dsRNA against CpBV-CRP, the suppressed hemocyte behavior was significantly recovered. This study reports a cysteine-rich protein encoded in CpBV genome and its physiological function to be an immunosuppressant.