The closest photo I can come up with is lady bug larva. Certainly not an exact match in color, but pretty close in insect shape. Any chance the damage is being done by aphids and these bugs are the good guys going after the bad?
I know of few native ladybugs whose larva are not more or less that mostly black with pink/orange highlights, nor of any that spiky. Though ladybug eggs are exported all over the country, and not all of the species used are native to North America (or indeed intentional or beneficial). Colorwise, it looks a little like the larva of Axion plagiatum (the twice-stabbed ladybug) but only a little.
To be honest based on the shape, it almost looks like some kind of frogmouth or spittle bug, just without the foam.