Found in the understory of a bottomland deciduous forest. These are apparently the short-winged form. Compare image at Insects of Cedar Creek linked below, which apparently shows the long-winged form.
See linked images below for another view of these two, from a slightly different angle, and a detail of head and pronotum.
I think these are likely
Tettigidea lateralis. See:
Helfer, pp. 92-93, fig. 157
(1)
Bland, p. 131
(2)
Insects of Cedar Creek
Abundant in the
North Carolina State University Entomology Collection (179 pinned--most frequently collected of genus).
I think I'm convinced enough looking at those images to place this photo in a guide for
Tettigidea lateralis. Identification is based on details of pronotal shape (not too strongly arched, and not spined at front). These characters differentiate from
Nomotettix cristatus, which has a more strongly arched pronotum and "back". It is also very small, under 1 cm, and found in dry habitats. (My critters were in a moist area.)
Tettigidea armata is similar to T. lateralis, but has a spiney projection on front of pronotum. References are Bland
(2) and Helfer.
(1)
Compare also Richard Leung's photo from Virginia:
Another interesting point about this photo is that the male has an ivory-white face, and the female's face is black. This is typical of the species, according to Capinera, p. 151.
(3)