And they can fly 5km (3 miles) with no need for rest, an example of how nature’s genius shames human machinery.

Until now.

At Beijing Institute of Technology, Professor Zhao Jieliang’s team has built the world’s lightest insect brain controller. At 74 milligrams, it is lighter than a sack of nectar.

Strapped to the bee’s back, the device pierces its brain with three needles. It creates illusions with electronic pulses to command flight: turn left, turn right, advance, retreat.

Nine out of 10 times, the bee obeyed.

The cyborg bee could serve as military scouts or search for survivors in the ruins of an earthquake, according to a peer-reviewed paper published on June 11, in the Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering.

“Insect-based robots inherit the superior mobility, camouflage capabilities and environmental adaptability of their biological hosts,” wrote Zhao and his colleagues.

“Compared to synthetic alternatives, they demonstrate enhanced stealth and extended operational endurance, making them invaluable for covert reconnaissance in scenarios such as urban combat, counterterrorism and narcotics interdiction, as well as critical disaster relief operations,” they added.

Before this, the lightest cyborg controller came from Singapore and was triple the weight. It could command beetles and roaches but they crawled at relatively slow speeds in short ranges and fatigued quickly.

Zhao’s team printed circuits on polymer film. While flexible and as thin as insect wings, it hosts numerous chips including an infrared remote.

Tests were done in nine pulse settings. The researchers studied bee wings and cockroach turns. They mapped signals to motion, made bees bank and made roaches trace long straight paths with little deviation.

But some flaws remain.

Bees need wired power and roaches tire after 10 zaps. One signal stirs different moves in different bugs, according to the researchers.

A long-lasting battery weighs 600mg – far too heavy for a bee. Their legs and bellies also refuse commands.

“In future research, precision and repeatability of insect behaviour control will be enhanced by optimising stimulation signals and control techniques,” wrote Zhao’s team.

“Concurrently expanding functional modules of the control backpack will improve environmental perception capabilities of insect-based robots, advancing their deployment in complex operational settings such as reconnaissance and detection missions,” they added.

Nations have engaged in an intense race on cyborg tech. The US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) used to take the lead, with Japan trailing closely. But now China is smashing records in this field, thanks to ample government funding and a booming electronics industry.