Shaw (1925) reported that in Australia both _Panesthia australis_ and _Panesthia laevicollis_ appear to live in families, and that one usually finds a pair of adults associated with from 12 to 20 nymphs in different stages of development; he continued, "it is only where the molts are very abundant that one loses sight of this familial habit." Tillyard (1926) also stated that the Australian species of _Panesthia_ live in burrows in soil in strict family communities of a pair of adults and 10 to 20 nymphs. A related colonial species, _Cryptocercus punctulatus_, lives in both sound and rotten logs in colonies consisting of a pair of adults and 15 or 20 nymphs, probably representing two or three broods (Cleveland et al., 1934; Cleveland, 1948). Chopard (1938) has cited this association as an example of gregariousness, which it may well be; however, the presence of only one pair of adults in each colony suggests a more intimate relationship. Among species of _Blattella_ and certain other genera with similar reproductive habits the female carries her oötheca clasped in her genital cavity with the posterior portion projecting behind her. Each normal oötheca is carried for approximately the duration of embryogenesis and is not dropped until, or shortly before, hatching. We have seen (1954, fig. 65) newly hatched nymphs of _Blattella vaga_ crawl over the body of the mother who stood quietly near the dropped oötheca; this female raised her wings and some of the nymphs crawled under them onto the dorsal surface of her abdomen. The nymphs seemed to feed on the grease covering the mother's body. The association was short-lived, however, and soon the nymphs scattered. Pettit (1940) stated that when hatching of _Blattella germanica_ occurs in the open (on a table top), the nymphs may remain near the capsule only a few minutes. Ledoux (1945) found that newly hatched nymphs of _B. germanica_ remained together without shelter in a single, sparse group. If the nymphs were separated by blowing on them, the group quickly reassembled, usually in the same spot. Ledoux showed that this gregarious grouping of first-instar nymphs was not necessarily a familial association by placing nymphs from two oöthecae together. In groups of 8 to 12 nymphs there was a perfect intermingling of the offspring from the two different females.