Moved from Zelus.

Apparently Z. luridus is the most common eastern species. Further, several of the other species once considered to range furhter north are now known to be restricted to the extreme southern U.S., or even south of the border.

This looks close to Zelus exsanguis as illustrated in Slater, How to Know the True Bugs (Wm. C. Brown, 1978), page 124, fig. 226. Length is given as 15-17 mm. Slater says about 12 spp. in this genus, most "restricted to southern and southwestern states". Genus Zelus described in Arnett, American Insects (2nd ed.) page 266. Web references:

• Key to Florida Assassin Bugs--PDF
• Univ. Kentucky Critter Case files
• Insects Cedar Creek
• http://inventory.ent.ncsu.edu/tree/dsp_species.cfm?genusName=Zelus (NCSU species list for Zelus, won't work as a live link.) That lists species for NC as: cervicalis, longipes, luridus, tetracanthus.

An image of Z. luridus on the web also looks close, including the red eyes. The genus looks probable, though I am prepared to be corrected.