C. punctulatus are distributed within the Eastern United States of America, concentrated within the Appalachian Mountains of Western Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

They play a vital role in forest health by decomposing dead logs allowing for nutrients to be leached back into the soil.

[6][7] The genus Cryptocercus is closely related to termites, believed that their life habits and gut symbiosis is ancestral.

[1][2][4] Field evidence suggests that pairs of C. punctulatus have a single reproductive episode during which they produce a mean of 73 eggs, in up to four oothecae.

[5] An extended period of brood care, which can last three years or longer, follows and includes defense of the family, gallery excavation, sanitation of the nest and, in the early stages, trophallactic feeding of the young.

[9][5] Nymphs are born without the cellulolytic protozoan symbionts they require to digest their wood diet; consequently, neonates rely on adults for nourishment.

"[10] C. punctulatus is thought to be the most resemblance of the common ancestor between termites and cockroaches largely due to their gut symbionts.

[12] The behaviour of proctodeal trophallaxis, the transfer of hind-gut fluids from the rectal pouch to the mouth of a receiver, allows for the vertical transmission of symbionts.