Our friend Cordelia. After she hatched on May 24, Cordelia accompanied me on visits to classes at the Damascus and Stourbridge Schools, and to a lunchtime hour at Highlights for Children magazine, where she captivated quite a few editors.

I returned Cordelia to the Freiermuth family at nightfall on May 26, where, eight months earlier, Michelle and the children had found the caterpillar that became my moth, crawling across the driveway. We’d planned to leave her in an open cage, hoping that she’d attract a male or two, but Cordelia had soured on cages and soon flew off.

The moth family “Saturniidae,” also called “giant silk moths,” includes cecropias, lunas, and a few other large, brightly colored moths with feathery antennae and wingspans that vary from two to six or seven inches. Their wings are adorned with oval or crescent-shaped spots.

To attract males during a brief life span, females emit chemical signals known as pheromones, which are commonly detected by males a mile or two away. In one case a tagged male was found to approach a female seven miles from its release point.

Adventuring into the world without usable mouthparts, cecropias are limited to a handful of days. Cordelia, if she outwits local birds, may enjoy the perfumes of a June evening or two.