A method of preventing damage to the seed and/or shoots and foliage of a plant by a pest includes treating the seed from which the plant grows with a composition that includes a combination of clothianidin and at least one pyrethrin or synthetic pyrethroid. The treatment is applied to the unsown seed. In another embodiment, the seed is a transgenic seed having at least one heterologous gene encoding for the expression of a protein having pesticidal activity against a first pest and the composition has activity against at least one second pest. Treated seeds are also provided.