I asked of a cat knowing person:
Black with yellow stripes are cutworms. Can be a pest. This year I've had some but they only stuck to the clover. They usually don't eat too much but can easily eliminate seedlings, or cut grown plants at the base if the stem is tasty enough.
the adults are dark brown moths
the yellow-striped armyworm
they liked my zinnias last year.
you usually don't see the moths, probably because they're nocturnal.
the pupae are red
for the green ones, they're also a moth caterpillar of some sort but the pics are blurry so I don't really know what kind
They might not even be caterpillars judging by the amount of false legs. They could be sawfly larvae or syrphid larvae. Their behavior is a good clue. If there are little legs all along the body without any gaps it's not a lepidopteran.
In which case, if it moves fast and doesn't eat leaves it's a syrphid larva
Thank you, I'm glad they weren't monarchs, or something.
They are living on what I would characterize as weeds and was pulling them by the roots.