A host of giant ant nests have been moved to make way for the dualling of the A9 Inverness-Perth road.
The northern wood ant is known for making its home at the edge of woodland and several sizeable nests have been found close to the trunk road at Kincraig.
However they are in the way of the proposed £55million dualling scheme from Kincraig-Dalraddy, which is due to start in the summer.
Nests in the Alvie area were excavated and placed in hessian sacks before being taken the short distance to their new home.
It is now hoped that the protected arthropods will adapt to the new location and not try to make their way back to their original home.
Food has been supplied to encourage them to stay put.
Specialist ecologists and entomologists are involved in the process, which has been used across Europe for a number of years.
Local conservationists are now watching keenly to see if the translocation will be a success as previous schemes have not prospered.
Gus Jones, of the Badenoch and Strathspey Conservation Group, said: “We are encouraged that a receptor site where nine nests have been moved to appears to be genuinely free of existing wood ant colonies.
“We also welcome the provision of supplementary feeding and hopefully the good weather will help the workers rebuild their nests. However we are concerned there are unmarked nests that may have been overlooked and appear to be at risk.
He added: “Translocation experiments for wood ants in Strathspey have a poor track record. Monitoring of the outcomes has been seriously inadequate and needs to be much better this time.
“There are precious few hotspots for wood ants. Wood ants with other vulnerable wildlife could readily benefit from investment in appropriately designed green bridges across the upgraded A9.”
A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “As part of early site investigation works for the A9 dualling Kincraig to Dalraddy project, colonies of ants were identified.
“Early indications are that the relocation has been successful which is important to us as part of our commitment to preserving Scotland’s biodiversity.”
The £3billion dualling scheme will upgrade 80miles of single carriageway between Inverness and Perth. It is expected to be completed by 2025.