Ultraviolet-absorbing plastic sheets protect crops from insect pests and from virus diseases vectored by insects

• Published in: Environmental entomology Vol. 25; no. 5; pp. 919 - 924
• Main Authors: Antignus, Y. (The Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel.), Mor, N, Joseph, B, Lapidot, M, Cohen, S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Oxford University Press 01-10-1996; Entomological Society of America
• Subjects: ABSORBANCE; ABSORBANCIA; Aleyrodidae; Aphididae; APHIS GOSSYPII; BEMISIA TABACI; Biological and medical sciences; COMPORTAMIENTO; COMPORTEMENT; Control; CONTROL DE ENFERMEDADES; CONTROL DE INSECTOS; CONTROLE DE MALADIES; CUCUMIS SATIVUS; CULTIVO PROTEGIDO; CULTURE SOUS ABRI; FILM PLASTIQUE; FRANKLINIELLA OCCIDENTALIS; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; GEMINIVIRUS ENROULEMENT JAUNE TOMAT; GEMINIVIRUS RIZADO AMARILLO TOMATE; ISRAEL; LUTTE ANTIINSECTE; LYCOPERSICON ESCULENTUM; PELICULA PLASTICA; Physical control; Phytopathology. Animal pests. Plant and forest protection; POLIETILENO; POLYETHYLENE; PROTECCION DE LAS PLANTAS; PROTECTION DES PLANTES; Protozoa. Invertebrates; RADIACION ULTRAVIOLETA; RAYONNEMENT ULTRAVIOLET; Thripidae; tomato yellow leaf curl virus; VECTEUR DE MALADIE; VECTORES; VISION; Frankliniella occidentalis; Aphis gossypii; vision behavior; Bemisia tabaci; tomato yellow leaf curl virus; Aphidoidea; Tomato yellow leaf curl virus; Plant pathogen; Insecta; Ultraviolet absorption; Thysanoptera; Virus; Physical control; Homoptera; Pest management; Arthropoda; Geminivirus; Aphididae; Thripidae; Aleyrodidae; Geminiviridae; Greenhouse; Invertebrata; Plastic shelter; Vector
• ISSN: 0046-225X; 1938-2936
• DOI: 10.1093/ee/25.5.919

Crops grown in walk-in tunnels covered with UV-absorbing plastic sheets were highly protected from infestation with sweetpotato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius); western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande); and cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover. Protection against B. tabaci was associated with a dramatic reduction m the spread of the whitefly-borne geminivirus tomato yellow leaf curl (TYLCV) and with a pronounced delay in plant infection and disease severity. Two months after transplantation, the average TYLCV disease incidence under 3 different UV-absorbing plastic sheets was 50, 30, and 20% compared with 93% under UV-nonabsorbing polyethylene sheets. In additional experiments, it was shown that the UV-absorbing sheets were also highly effective in the protection of cucumbers against F. occidentalis and A. gossypii. Filtration of full spectrum and monochromatic UV light by UV-absorbing plastic sheets reduced significantly the attraction of B. tabaci to these light sources. The association of the described phenomena with the UV vision of insects is discussed