What is the story that Dillard relates about the Polyphemus moth and how does it show a possible origin of her attitude towards creatures?

A student brings in a Polyphemus cocoon to school, and the children pass the cocoon around to study it. The heat of the many hands warms the cocoon and causes the moth to hatch prematurely. The teacher drops the still-hatching moth and cocoon into a mason jar where the moth finally hatches. The newly hatched moth is unable to spread his wings, and, thus, the cocoon fluid dried the wings in a half-open position. At recess, someone let the moth free, and Dillard remembers watching the creature stumble down the sidewalk, its wings unusable. The image has stayed with Dillard ever since. This again illustrates the theme of the indifference humans often exhibit towards the natural world. Just as Dillard is at first nonchalant about capturing, killing, and then displaying insects for her bug collection, so, too, are the teacher and her classmates seemingly indifferent to the plight of the Polyphemus moth. Dillard is never vehemently vocal about the rights of the natural world to survive, but neither is she, as an adult, indifferent to the needless suffering of any living creature, but it is obvious that watching the moth stumble away affected her deeply.