Actually, wood-eating ants was exactly our problem in Taipei–these huge black wood-eaters. I owned a house in California that had moderate termite damage so I know that you’re right that the proper thing to do as a homeowner is tear out all the infested walls, make a big mess and spend a lot of money to get rid of them. But here in Taipei I’m just a renter, so I don’t care if they’re chewing away behind the walls as long as they don’t come out where I live. So I finally solved the problem by finding all the rotten wood holes where they came out, filling the holes with that great liquid ant poison, then sealing all the holes with caulking and tape so they can’t get out. Crappy makeshift remedy, but it works. The ants have been gone for a couple of months now. 