We needed a replacement paper fiber. The French scientist, René Réaumur, came up with the solution in 1719. Look at North American wasps, he said -- what you and I call paper wasps. They make fine paper for their nests by chewing up wood and exuding it.

Can wasps make paper?

With a mouthful of wood fibers, the queen uses the saliva in her mouth to break down the wood fibers until they form a soft paper pulp. ... Worker wasps help to form the soft paper pulp into multiple hexagonal cells. As the pulp dries, it forms a sturdy paper nest where young wasps will be born and develop.

What insect makes a paper nest?

Paper wasps get their common name from the paper-like material out of which they make their nests. Paper wasps are sometimes called umbrella wasps, after the shape of their distinctive nests.