RNA interference (RNAi) technology has the potential to be used in pest management in crop production. Here, the transcriptome of Nephotettix cincticeps (Uhler) was deeply sequenced to investigate the systematic RNAi mechanism and candidate genes for dsRNA feeding. In our datasets, a total of 81 225 transcripts were obtained with the length from 150 bp to about 4.2 kb. Almost all the genes related to the RNAi core pathway were proved to be present in N. cincticeps transcriptome. Two transcripts that respectively encode a systemic interference defective (SID) were identified in our database, indicating that the systematic RNAi pathway can function effectively in N. cincticeps. Our datasets not only supply basic gene information for the studies of gene expression and functions in N. cincticeps, such as the control genes for gene expression analysis, but also provide candidate genes for RNAi pest management, such as the genes that encode P450 monooxygenase, V-ATPase and chitin synthase.