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I just love these colorful little caterpillars! I find them almost every year as I'm searching for Monarch eggs and larvae, or gathering Milkweed to feed my babies.
These beautiful Harlequin moth caterpillars are communal feeders, whose eggs have been laid in large masses under a leaf of the Milkweed plant. They quickly skeletonize one leaf at a time and compete for food with the Monarch larvae.
Once they get to be about this size, they split up, feeding on nearby Milkweed plants. When they've matured, they crawl off their host plant. After finding a suitable spot (whatever that might be to a little caterpillar!) they begin spinning their cocoons along with surrounding debris and the hairs off their bodies. If they get loose in our house, they use dog fur!
Once they emerge as moths, they are known as the Milkweed Tiger Moth. We do not release any of these moths into the wild, but allow them live out their lives, destroying any eggs they may have laid. --LKR
While weeding, I found these adorable, fuzzy moth caterpillars. Their host plant is bindweed, so there is some purpose for leaving some for these critters, although this vine is terribly invasive.
I remember being astonished as one of these cats turned brown, then quickly spun a cocoon. 
I later found brown ones like these in the same spot in my garden, also on bindweed. I'm not 100% positive..., but these two fuzzy cats may be the same. Variations in same species caterpillars can be quite striking. I'm posting this to 1) see if anyone knows for sure, or 2) check in 2009 if this proves true!
Here's one cocoon that's spun with silk and the hairs from the caterpillar's body.
Voila!!! Isn't this a beautiful little moth? --LKR
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