What th--?

its a nymph of a cicada,
the ones that make the eeeeEEEEEEEeeeeee in the summer

Was this an empty shell that you found, or was it alive and moving around? Usually most people only encounter the discarded shells left behind after the nymphs shed into adults. Despite the fierce appearance, both adults and juveniles of this species are harmless, using tube-like mouthparts to feed on the sap of trees. The juveniles spend thier lives (sometimes as much as several years) ungerground feeding on the sap in the roots of a tree, then they emerge and climb up the nearest object, such as your deck, and shed thier skin to become fully-winged, noisy adults. The screeching noise you hear coming from trees in the summer is the mating calls of adult Cicadas.

Thanks BugBoy and ChrisT for your replies. I have learned much about Cicadas in the past few days, and couldn't have done so if you hadn't identified my "creature" for me. Since it wasn't moving, and hasn't moved since (3 days+), I'm assuming it's the discarded exoskeleton (too chicken to get close enough!).

i thought i'd add that ive been actually perforated on two seperate occasions by two seperate species of cicada. both times theyve been casually perched on my arm or palm and suddenly their beak's through my skin. (it just burns a tiny bit for a second)

well, later

The last post was a long time ago but for anyone who is reading, the last comment was false, cicadas dont have beaks, they have long slender tubes, like mentioned above, and used to suck plant fluids, the tubes cant peirce the skin.

LOL....... Cicadas don't bite. Matbe he/she just had a big be or...heres an idea..HORSEFLY..on their arm. LOL...Attack of the Killer Cicadas.