Stinging caterpillars...?

Question

Is anyone familiar with a species of stinging caterpillar that has black spikes in bands and has striped colors on its body including red, orange, and yellow? I am only familiar with the all black variety and found this brightly colored one today in my flowers. I am unable to find any example looking like this particular caterpillar online. Does anyone know anything about it?

(Yes there is such a thing as stinging caterpillars only they don't 'sting' like a bee. They have hollow spikes sticking from their bodies which inject poison into anybody who might be trying to hurt them. Nasty little critters...)

Thanks for any help you can offer! I am unsure where to categorize this so here goes nothing...

Upon further investigation I have caught some and see that they are only orange striped with little while stripes on either side of the orange. No red or yellow, my mistake. They do still have the spines all over and long black anntenneas. I am from the MidAtlantic Region, USA.

I forgot my main question- are they of the stinging variety for sure and when will they go away for the season?

Answer 1

You didn't mention where you live, which could have a pretty major bearing on what kind of caterpillar it might be.

One of the most common ones in North America is often called the wooly-bear caterpillar. It is actually a type of tiger moth (Arctiidae) called Lophocampa maculata.

Here's some pictures
http://bugguide.net/images/raw/OZXR3ZXR3ZMRYZMRNLRZ6LQROZ0RELQZ1LMZ1LKZHHGRCZIRDZXRJZFL2LQRZHKZVLPROLZZDZQR.jpg
http://www.discoverlife.org/IM/I_DLW/0001/320/Lophocampa_maculata,_larva,I_DLW113_1.jpg

Answer 2

1- Caterpillar 2- Bee 3- Jellyfish

Answer 3

the cat. of the question mark butterfly. http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu.G2ALFGMrQANFdXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE5NGU4NHMwBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMgRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkA0Y4MjJfMTExBGwDV1Mx/SIG=12e4iq4qi/EXP=1186091574/**http%3a//www.duke.edu/~jspippen/butterflies/questionmark.htm