HERBIVORE-RESISTANT CROP VARIETIES SHOULD BE THE CORNERSTONE OF SUSTAINABLE PEST MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS. SOME CROP SPECIES ARE KNOWN TO HAVE A DIVERSITY OF PHENOTYPES THAT EACH CONFER A UNIQUE DEFENSIVE TRAIT AGAINST HERBIVORES. RECENT STUDIES SUGGEST THAT DEPLOYMENT OF A DIVERSITY OF DEFENSIVE PHENOTYPES MAY BE A MORE EFFECTIVE PEST MANAGEMENT STRATEGY THAN DEPLOYING A SINGLE PHENOTYPE THAT CONFERS A SINGLE DEFENSIVE TRAIT. MOREOVER, THE EFFICACY OF DEPLOYING CROPS WITH INTRASPECIFIC DEFENSE TRAIT DIVERSITY FOR PEST CONTROL MAY BE FURTHER ENHANCED BY INCREASED MORTALITY FROM NATURAL ENEMIES. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO UNCOVER THE CONSEQUENCES OF INTRA-CROP DEFENSE DIVERSITY IN TOMATO (SOLANUM LYCOPERSICUM) IN ORDER TO IMPROVE MANAGEMENT OF TWO ECONOMICALLY IMPORTANT AGRICULTURAL PESTS: CABBAGE LOOPER (TRICHOPLUSIA NI) AND GREEN PEACH APHID (MYZUS PERSICAE). THIS GOAL WILL BE ADDRESSED BY MEASURING THE EFFECTS THAT MULTIPLE GENETIC LINES OF TOMATO, EACH CONFERRING UNIQUE RESISTANCE VIA GLYCOALKALOIDS, TERPENES, OR ACYL SUGARS, HAVE ON PEST PERFORMANCE, MOVEMENT, POPULATION DYNAMICS, AND INTERACTIONS WITH NATURAL ENEMIES. EXPERIMENTS WILL BE CONDUCTED IN THE LAB TO UNCOVER THE PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF DEFENSE DIVERSITY, AND IN THE FIELD TO MEASURE PEST MOVEMENT AND POPULATION DYNAMICS AND EFFECTS ON TOMATO CROP HEALTH. ADDITIONALLY, FIELD STUDIES WILL IDENTIFY HOW DEFENSE TRAIT DIVERSITY INFLUENCES INTERACTIONS BETWEEN PESTS AND NATURAL ENEMIES BY COMBINING TREATMENTS WITH IMPORTANT BIOCONTROL PREDATORS. THIS PROJECT WILL ADVANCE THE GOALS OF THE PROGRAM AREA PRIORITY BY LEADING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTRA-CROP DEFENSE DIVERSITY AS AN INNOVATIVE, ENVIRONMENTALLY-SOUND, AND COST-EFFECTIVE STRATEGY FOR MANAGING AGRICULTURALLY IMPORTANT PESTS.