Water scorpion

Chaenorrhium is correct. http://www.dallaszooed.com/animalfacts/a.....
So, in spite of its name this spotting doesn't fit your mission.
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/148...

Water scorpions are insects, not arachnids. The 'stinger' is actually a breathing tube.

Please join Scorpions of Florida.
http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/2237...

I thought those were mites; thanks for confirming.

Your waterscorpion also has the typical mite load on its legs (the red-colored bumps). See the link for close-up images of mites....

http://bugguide.net/node/view/502346

Because we have so many wading birds and ducks that travel between different bodies of water I was thinking this fellow may have been trapped in feathers and transported. And we have a serious deficit in rain this year.
thank you for the introduction to these interesting creatures.

They typically hang out in weedy, stagnant ponds here in Ohio. I don't think they'd attract a bird's attention. Since they breathe air (the 'tails' are held together as a breathing tube) and suck fluids from fish and other bugs, I think they could get away with somewhat salty water. Or maybe it got flushed downstream if you had a recent storm and crawled up out of the water because it *was* brackish.

I thought the same thing, Karen when I saw it crawling across the driveway. But I decided it was a peculiar mantis when I picked it up. Wrong!
Chaenorrhinum has it right--it is a water scorpion! Now the mystery: nearby water is a brackish river. Is it possible the poor thing was dropped by one of the birds that may have flown by from fresh water farther inland?

Is there standing water nearby? This looks a lot like a water scorpion.

Not seen one like this before - at first glance I thought it was a phasmatodea!