When ingested, engineered double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) can trigger the RNAi pathway and cause significant gene silencing and subsequent mortality in multiple forest pests, including southern pine beetle (SPB) (Dendroctonus frontalis, Zimmerman). Host plant delivered RNAi technologies may provide a novel avenue for forest pest suppression, however, a better understanding of the in-planta behavior of dsRNAs is crucial. Translocation and persistence of dsRNA within loblolly pine seedlings (Pinus taeda) has been demonstrated, but response of the host plant to insect-specific dsRNA has yet to be evaluated. In this work, loblolly pine seedlings were exposed to SPB-specific dsRNA, and mRNA was sequenced (N = 4) and analyzed for differences in gene expression. Analysis revealed hundreds of differentially expressed transcripts between treated and untreated seedlings, with the greatest abundance of orthologs categorized under ‘replication and repair of nucleic acids.’ BLAST homology searches revealed that none of the selected RNAi-related proteins were present in a subset of differentially expressed transcripts. Despite this, sequences for 14 RNAi-related proteins were identified from the complete loblolly transcriptome; these are vital for future work investigating the feasibility of delivering SPB-specific dsRNAs through host plant material. While no response to the insect-specific dsRNA was found, future work investigating the rest of the differentially expressed transcripts, as well as experiments investigating varied intervals after exposure, will be necessary to fully understand the interaction between plant and dsRNA. Understanding how plants respond to non-plant dsRNAs will help fine tune host-mediated delivery of RNAi technologies for forest protection.