but I don't think so. The "spines" on the larva in my image do not appear to be double-branched ( see this image and Abigail's comment).
H. axy*ridis seems to have the orange confined to abdominal segments 1 thru 4 or 5. The larva in my image has it on 1, 4, 6, and 7.
If it is anything else, it may be C. septem*punctata.

Doesn't have the fleshy tubercles of H. axyridis - the "spines" here are stiff hairs (setae). C. septempunctata has less orange on the abdomen, especially the 4th segment, where the orange area doesn't reach the dorsal terga (the fancy name for the raised lumps that the setae grow out of). The first thorax segment does have a similar "Batman symbol" pattern to C. 7-punctata, but again the orange areas are different.

There are only a few species of Hippodamia that range as far southeast as South Carolina; I've only found good larval images/descriptions for two of them, so I'm not 100% confident about saying "Not only is it Hippodamia, it's THIS Hippodamia," but H. convergens is by far the most common. And those mating H. convergens you also photographed in the same location indicate that there certainly are larvae of that species around! So I'm comfortable with H. convergens here.