I have a new respect for cabbage moths. I am intent on destroying them of course. And there are plenty of them in my garden right now. But I have been observing them more closely of late; taking more notice of their movements, their flight paths.

They seem to fly in pairs, assiduously. I presume they are mates. How nice! Yes, if the leader goes one way, the other will follow, over lawn and trees, high and low. Is it the male who leads...or the female?

As I sit on my verandah, I can observe two of my vegetable patches, both covered with bird netting, the white variety, which stretches, tent-like, over the high central rail, to be pegged down on the margins of the beds. One of the plots contains my cabbages, and it drives the moths wild!

They flutter close to the net, trying to get in; endeavouring with all their might to gain entry to what is their habitat, I suppose, their end of the rainbow, their Mecca. It is instinctive for them to do all they can in order to lay their eggs on my cabbages.

The odd one succeeds, and is happy for a while...so like the human species in a way. But then the moth feels trapped, and wants to join her brethren on the outside. Panic! The others who are free to fly wherever they wish, can see her distress and hover close, several of them. They follow her flight around the enclosure, up and down, from side to side, end to end. They do not give up. Are they calling encouragement somehow, pleading to exhort herself, to find some means of escape?

I have seen a trapped moth fall to the ground, injured from beating too hard against the net. As it lay on the dark soil, its white form conspicuous, several of her comrades hovered close, fluttering madly against the dividing fabric. When the insect recovered and again flew to the higher region, they followed solicitously. Ultimately, naturally, if the moth did not escape, after much anxiety, the others gave up and flew on to other pastures. And that is where I came in...!