S-04. Friend, or Foe?

Voice 1

Hello. I'm Elizabeth Lickiss.

Voice 2

And I'm Marina Santee. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

Voice 3

Who goes there? Friend or foe?

Voice 1

Life is full of friends and foes - friends and enemies. And in a strange way, this is true in the whole of nature! Creatures great and small learn very quickly who is a friend and who is an enemy.

Voice 2

A beautiful winged insect moves through the air. It stops on the leaves of a nearby tree. If you look closely, you can see that its wings are beautiful. The bright fire-coloured wings slowly close. They open one last time. This permits you to see the beautiful fine details on the small creature. It is the monarch butterfly. The butterfly moves and lands on your hand. You keep very still. But you can only just feel it! It is so light! So how does such a creature defend itself? You cannot see any defences. And you know that the butterfly does not have a poisonous bite, or a painful sting. So what does it do?

Voice 1

Well, nature usually provides some kind of weapon. And, naturally, the monarch is no exception. But the monarch's secret weapon lies within its body. And it begins right at the start of the monarch's life - as an egg. Adult monarchs stick their eggs to the underside of leaves. The leaves are always those of the milkweed plant. This plant is central to the monarch's inbuilt defence system.

Voice 2

Like all butterflies, monarchs begin life as caterpillars. The monarch caterpillar breaks out of the egg. Immediately, it finds food. It eats the milkweed leaves. The caterpillar fills itself with the milky substance contained in the leaves. And it grows very quickly. When it is about five centimetres long, it stops eating. A kind of shell develops around the caterpillar - a chrysalis. The caterpillar develops inside the green and gold chrysalis. In about two weeks, it changes into a beautiful monarch butterfly. The butterfly is still full of the milky substance from the milkweed leaves. And this substance contains a poison. It does not harm the butterfly. But it does make it taste bad to birds and animals. Creatures that eat this butterfly become sick. They do not die. But they do remember that this brightly-coloured insect made them sick. They soon learn to avoid all monarch butterflies. So the milkweed plant helps this butterfly to defend itself from harm. A true friend!

Voice 1

This is how nature works. It is like having friends and enemies. And each creature and plant knows which is which! The caterpillar has many enemies. It is a soft creature, easy to attack. Flying insects like wasps like to lay their eggs on caterpillars! But the caterpillar has another friend, as well as the milkweed plant. This is another insect, the ant. The ant can guard the caterpillar. The ant can release a liquid that drives attackers away. In return for this service, the caterpillar produces a sweet liquid for the ant to feed on. What are friends for?

Voice 2

Underwater, the sea slug uses a similar defence to the monarch. Like the caterpillar, the sea slug has a soft body. And, it also gains its defence weapon from food! Some sea slugs feed on sea creatures called hydroids. Hydroids look like plants. And, they have special cells that hurt most things that touch them. But these cells do not harm the sea slug. They help it! When the sea slug eats the hydroids it stores the cells. It can then use the cells to protect itself. Some slugs can even shoot out the pain-giving cells to attackers!

Voice 1

And this is not the sea slug's only defence! The other is its colour! Many people consider sea slugs beautiful creatures. They have so many different colours! The sea slug takes the colour from the food it eats. So, if the slug eats something red, it turns red. If it eats something brown, it turns brown. The perfect way to hide from enemies! The sea slug's food is its greatest friend!

Voice 2

The hermit crab carries its 'friends' on its shell! Living under the sea can be a dangerous place. So the hermit crab needs more than its protective shell. It needs something to fight with! Sea anemones provide this. These small creatures contain powerful cells that hurt if touched. The hermit crab covers itself with sea anemones for extra protection. Its enemies know how painful sea anemones can be.

Voice 1

In the world of sea creatures, who would befriend the keyhole limpet? You cannot even see the small creature under its huge flat shell! The limpet is safely hidden, and so is any creature that hides with it! This is what the sea worm does. It lives in the 'keyhole' on the top of the limpet's shell. This provides a safe home for the sea worm. And in return, the sea worm defends the limpet from enemies like starfish. If a starfish attacks, the sea worm bites its feet!

Voice 2

The keyhole limpet and the sea worm. The hermit crab and anemones. The sea slug and its food! The caterpillar and the ant. The monarch butterfly and the milkweed plant. These seem like unusual combinations. But, their successful relationships are responsible for survival!

Voice 1

It seems so clear in the world of nature. Friends are friends. And enemies are enemies. If only life were this simple with people! Betrayal can turn a friend into an enemy very quickly. And an enemy can act as a friend to gain trust. An old proverb in the Bible says, 'Better are the wounds of a friend than the kiss of an enemy.' 'A friend loves at all times.'

Voice 2

In the world of nature, a creature defends the life of its 'friend.' It does so naturally, without question. It is following the laws of nature. The Bible says this is how God made them to be. But it says that God gave humans freedom to choose. And then he asked them to choose to love. That would be why Jesus Christ commanded his followers to love one another. He told them, 'No-one has greater love than the one who lays down his life for his friends'.

Voice 1

The writer of today's programme was Marina Santee. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom. Computer users can hear our programmes, read our scripts and see our word list on our website:

Voice 2

If you have comments or questions about our Spotlight programmes you can reach us by email. Our address is radio@english.net. Thank you for joining us in today's Spotlight programme. Until next time, goodbye.