The word "stunning" is often over-used when it comes to attempting to describe lepidopteran larvae, but in the case of the Saddleback Caterpillar, whose adult form is a fairly nondescript moth, stunning is actually all-too-modest. This caterpillar, which typically puts in an appearance in late-summer on an assortment of garden and orchard plants, along with a variety of wild species, is downright spectacular, but as I tell everyone who might be walking with me, don't be tempted to pick these up. The little critter is armed with spines that are anything but ornamental. According to University of Connecticut caterpillar guru David Wagner in his must-have book, Caterpillars of Eastern North America, the spine-delivered sting of the Saddleback, "may be the most potent of any North American caterpillar." The Coasters may have been talking about poison ivy in their epic song of the same name, but their warning applies to Acharia stimulea larvae, "You can look, but you'd better not touch."