Antignus, Y., Department of Virology, Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, Bet Dagan, 50250, Israel
Mor, N., Department of Virology, Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, Bet Dagan, 50250, Israel
Joseph, R.B., Department of Virology, Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, Bet Dagan, 50250, Israel
Lapidot, M., Department of Virology, Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, Bet Dagan, 50250, Israel
Cohen, S., Department of Virology, Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, Bet Dagan, 50250, Israel
Antignus, Y., Department of Virology, ARO, Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, Bet Dagan, 50250, Israel
Mor, N., Department of Virology, ARO, Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, Bet Dagan, 50250, Israel
Joseph, R.B., Department of Virology, ARO, Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, Bet Dagan, 50250, Israel
Lapidot, M., Department of Virology, ARO, Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, Bet Dagan, 50250, Israel
Cohen, S., Department of Virology, ARO, Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, Bet Dagan, 50250, Israel

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 in 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.