No, it's hard to say, but ash borer larvae, along with tons of other beetle larvae look like that. EAB larvae don't go past the bark and first layer or so of wood, they don't burrow into the heartwood.
Oh, ok. these were in the middle of the heartwood, deep in. I don't even know if we have Ash on LI? Never seen it and/or don't know it at all.
I'm no entomologist, but I did stay at a holiday inn express last night, and from what I know, it's very difficult to know what kind of larvae it is unless you know the tree type, and best way is to see the larvae turn into a beetle.
I am still a little skeptical about the ash theory. The color of the sapwood was right but the bark seems different. I do know there is basswood on my property. I did have a basswood identified by a forester this past winter. If its not too wet, i would like to get over to that tree to compare it to the one i cut. Maybe that will shed some new light on identifying it. A little surprised no one suggested sassafras.
It might be a younger Aspen. My Bigtooth Aspen all have those same black spots. The bark in the second picture looks a little like Aspen, but I'm still not positive. You will know it's Aspen when it dries out and weighs next to nothing. If you remove the bark and it's really stringy underneath then it's Aspen.
Bark isn't right for white, green or blue ash, I can't say for black ash because we don't have it here. so there you have my 2 cents worth.
Not sure what kind of worm you have, but it does sound similar to a Bess Beetle. I find them primarily in oak rounds that have sat too long before splitting. The beetles feast on punky parts of the tree just under the bark and lay eggs as they go. Since I have seen them parked in the wood in the dead of winter, I assume they might spend their entire life cycle in the same piece of wood.
I have to say it's awesome to split that oak open late winter and have all those beetles and larvae spill out of the round. The birds are all over them. It sort of reminds me of Seagulls at the beach with how aggresive they are. I assume the winter birds are so hungry from snow cover, they forget that they should be afraid of me. By the time spring hits, they wait for me leave the area before they hunt the bugs. I really hate those beetles, but the meal they give to the birds when they most need it is priceless.
Here are two ash limbs from a tree that I cut down a couple three weeks ago. That bark looks like a younger section IMO.
Are those pics from the same tree? If so you have Hickory, Pignut I believe. Took the last pic to figure it out.
Took some more pics today. Decided to cut it into kindling. The original splits were cut in December and have turned yellow. The fresh splits i made today revealed an inside that was as white as milk. Beautiful red color just inside the bark.
I'm still leaning towards Aspen, especially with these new pics. I don't have any wood lighter in color (almost white) than Aspen and the outside rounds looks very simular with that redish brown tone. When I split Aspen the grain is somewhat straight but wavy. Most of the splits have a little curve to them. Here's a stack of Bigtooth Aspen. You can see some of the bark and color. When I peal the bark off the wood feels a little slimy. What do you think? Sorry no close ups, but I do have the exact same black lines or spots inside the wood.
Thats another possibility, for sure. There are some aspen in this part of the woods. But there are also ash, soft maple, sassafras, basswood, and pignut hickory. For this, and many other reasons, I wish i would have chosen forestry for my career!
Went back and took a few more pics of the mystery wood. I think Fanatical 1 may be right. I found a few pieces that look a lot like a coffee table we got last year, which is made of Aspen
