Compositions and methods for controlling plant pests

A method of reducing an amount of a plant pest, the method comprising:

• contacting the plant pest with a composition comprising:
• (a) a Cas12a2 polypeptide, or a polynucleotide encoding a Cas12a2 polypeptide, and
• (b) at least one guide polynucleotide, or a polynucleotide encoding at least one guide polynucleotide;
• wherein each guide polynucleotide is capable of binding the Cas12a2 polypeptide and hybridizing to a target sequence in one or more cells of the plant pest,
• wherein the target sequence is located immediately adjacent to a PAM sequence that is recognized by the Cas12a2 polypeptide,
• and wherein the Cas12a2 polypeptide comprises
• (i) a primary activity of cleaving the target sequence;
• (ii) a secondary activity of cleaving nucleic acid molecules in a non-sequence-specific manner in the one or more cells of the plant pest,
• thereby reducing the amount of the plant pest.