ANIMALS NEED THE ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH THEY LIVE TO PROVIDE ENOUGH FOOD RESOURCES TO ENSURE THEIR GROWTH, SURVIVAL, AND REPRODUCTION. WHILE MUCH RESEARCH HAS FOCUSED ON TRYING TO IMPROVE THE SUCCESS OF ANIMALS BY UNDERSTANDING THE VALUE OF DIFFERENT HABITATS FOR ANIMALS (E.G., AGRICULTURAL AREAS VERSUS NATURAL GRASSLANDS), WE HAVE GENERALLY IGNORED HOW THE IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF TIME INFLUENCES THEM. THAT IS, FOR AN ANIMALS TO PERSIST IN AN AREA, THERE NEEDS TO BE A SUFFICIENT AMOUNT OF FOOD AVAILABLE CONTINUOUSLY THROUGHOUT THEIR LIFE CYCLE, OR ELSE THEY WILL LEAVE AN AREA OR DIE. GAPS IN THE AVAILABILITY OF FOOD RESOURCES CAN BE HARMFUL OR EVEN FATAL, PARTICULARLY FOR SMALLER AND SHORT-LIVED SPECIES SUCH AS INSECTS BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE LARGE FOOD STORAGE ORGANS TO AID IN SURVIVAL DURING PERIODS OF STARVATION.THE AIM OF THIS PROJECT IS TO EXAMINE HOW FOOD AVAILABILITY AFFECTS BENEFICIAL INSECTS - SPECIFICALLY PREDATORY LADY BEETLES - IN AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPES. THE AVAILABILITY OF RESOURCES CAN BE BROKEN DOWN INTO TWO COMPONENTS; THE AMOUNT OF RESOURCES AND THE TIMING OF WHEN THOSE RESOURCES BECOME AVAILABLE (HEREAFTER REFERRED TO AS RESOURCE CONTINUITY). WE WILL FOCUS ON LADY BEETLES BECAUSE THEY ARE IMPORTANT NATURAL PREDATORS FOR AGRICULTURAL PESTS SUCH AS APHIDS AND CATERPILLARS. WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT AS THE AMOUNT OF FOOD FOR LADY BEETLES (MAINLY SOFT-BODIED PLANT FEEDERS) INCREASES IN THE ENVIRONMENT, LADY BEETLE NUMBERS WILL INCREASE AS WELL. WE ALSO HYPOTHESIZE THAT THE TIMING OF WHEN THOSE RESOURCES BECOME AVAILABLE IS ALSO IMPORTANT. FOR EXAMPLE, IF THE FOOD FOR LADY BEETLES IS ONLY AVAILABLE AT THE START OF THE GROWING SEASON, THEN WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT THE LACK OF FOOD AT THE END OF THE GROWING SEASON WILL CAUSE LADY BEETLES TO SUFFER STARVATION AND ULTIMATELY BE DETRIMENTAL FOR LADY BEETLE POPULATIONS. WHILE THE ISSUE OF FOOD TIMING MAKES INTUITIVE SENSE, PREVIOUS WORK HAS CONFOUNDED THESE TWO VERY IMPORTANT COMPONENTS, LEADING TO CONFLICTING RESULTS ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF RESOURCE AVAILABILITY FOR NATURAL PREDATORS AND THEIR ABILITY TO CONTROL AGRICULTURAL PESTS.WE WILL ANSWER OUR QUESTIONS USING BOTH FIELD STUDIES AND LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS. FIRST, WE WILL CONDUCT A LARGE-SCALE FIELD STUDY WHERE WE WILL SURVEY LADY BEETLES AND SOFT-BODY PREY SPECIES WITHIN LANDSCAPES THAT VARY IN RESOURCE AMOUNT AND FOOD CONTINUITY. SECOND, WE WILL CONDUCT A SERIES OF LABORATORY FEEDING STUDIES WHERE WE WILL DETERMINE HOW LADY BEETLE BODY CONDITION (E.G., FAT CONTENT, EGG LOAD, SIZE, FEEDING RATES) IS AFFECTED BY RESOURCE AMOUNT AND CONTINUITY. THESE MEASUREMENTS WILL OFFER INDICATORS OF WHETHER LADY BEETLES ARE STARVING IN DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS. WE WILL ALSO ASSESS BODY CONDITION IN SPECIMENS COLLECTED IN THE FIELD AND DETERMINE DIET COMPOSITION USING DNA SEQUENCING TECHNIQUES TO SEE SPECIFICALLY WHAT THEY ARE EATING IN THE LANDSCAPE. TOGETHER, THESE APPROACHES ALLOW US TO DETERMINE THE MECHANISM BY WHICH RESOURCE AVAILABILITY AFFECTS LADY BEETLE BODY CONDITIONS (LAB STUDIES) WHILE RELATING OUR FINDINGS TO "REAL WORLD" FIELD COLLECTED DATA. THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO DETERMINE HOW NATURAL PREDATORS IN OUR AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPES ARE AFFECTED BY THE AMOUNT AND TIMING OF FOOD AVAILABILITY AND THUS THEIR ABILITY TO CARRY OUT NATURAL BIOCONTROL OF CROP PESTS. RESULTS FROM OUR STUDY COULD AID IN MINIMIZING THE USAGE OF PESTICIDES IN AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPES, AND ULTIMATELY OFFER INSIGHTS ON HOW BETTER TO DESIGN CROPPING SYSTEMS AND LANDSCAPES THAT CREATE BETTER CONDITIONS FOR MAINTAINING HEALTHY LADY BEETLE POPULATIONS.