Drywood termites are a bit different that your traditional termites. First of all they are generally only found in the coastal regions of the United States. They are quite a bit bigger as they are up to 1/2″ in long. They also don’t require mud like many termites.
Since they don’t require the moist soil they tend to live high up in homes like in the attic. They will feed on the wood and cardboard boxes in your attic and can cause structural damage if the problem becomes too severe.
Most types of termites are treatable by treating the soil around the home which they depend on. Once treated these termites die or leave. But this doesn’t work with drywood termites at all. Some of the most effective treatments for drywood termites are fumigation and spot treatments in the wood.
Fumigation can be some cans of spray that are led out in the attic from time to time as a do it yourself type job. If the problem is severe, tent fumigation might be required. What’s difficult about drywood termites is that they can be so far inside the wood that some may still live. Luckily these colonies are much smaller so even those who survive will have a more difficult time getting back to a larger size.
Another method is spot wood treatments. A hole is drilled in the infected woods and insecticide is forced into all the pathways the termites live in. This will go through the whole structure the termites have built for themselves making them come in contact with the insecticide.