What is this insect in North Carolina?
This is some species of ichneumon wasp.

The ichneumon wasps are parasitoid wasps in the order Hymenoptera. They commonly parasitize other invertebrates, especially larvae and pupae of Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, and Lepidoptera. 

Specifically, this appears to be Dolichomitus irritator.



 Photo credit:  Thomas wilson 

Here's another specimen of the same species found in Weymouth Woods-Sandhills Nature Preserve, Southern Pines, Moore County, NC:



 Photo credit:  Dorothy Pugh 

You can find additional high-quality images from Jeff Tome's Flickr page.

I could not find too many sources with good information about this specific species. Fontanelle Forests' Nature Search provided the most complete info:


Description: 7/8 inch long, not including the ovipositor.  The head and thorax are black.  The abdomen is red-orange.  The legs are yellow and orange.  The antennae are black.  The black ovipositor is at least as long as the body and head.
Ecology: Parasitoids of many woodboring insect larvae including long-horned beetles, weevils, metallic wood-boring beetles and some moths that are wasp look-alikes.  
Taxonomy: In the subfamily Pimplinae, which has 180 species in 28 genera in North America.