Mystery bug!?

Question:My mom was pulling apart the bark of one of our old oak trees. As she did she pulled out a bug about mabey 2 inches long and about as thick as your pinky. Its got a black head and black dots on its back. its color is a combination of like a red, pink and light brown all tougher. Its like a large version of a grub but creepyer. I wish i had a pic to show. If u know of a good place to find info on a unknown bug or happen to know what it may be that would be great. Ive been searching for hours for any kind of info.

Answers:
sounds like a wood borer to me. There are several species of wood boring beetles. You have metallic wood borers (flat headed wood borers) and round headed wood borers.. among many others. You can look at the hole it came out of. Was it ovoid or round? Try googling these names: Buprestidae, Elateridae, Cerambycidae. They might give you more of what you are looking for. Pay particular attention to their larvae. Try this link as well. Have a look at the larvae and see if anything looks close to what you came across:
http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10...