The present invention is directed to controlling plant pest infestation, and particularly plant nematode infestation, by inhibiting one or more biological functions in the plant pest. The invention discloses methods and compositions for use in controlling plant pest infestation by providing one or more different recombinant double stranded RNA molecules in the diet of the pest in order to achieve a reduction in pest infestation through suppression of pest gene expression. The invention is also directed to methods for making transgenic plants that express the double stranded RNA molecules, to methods for detecting cells comprising the disclosed sequences, and to methods for detecting the disclosed sequences in biological samples.