The shrinking town of Poochera is pinning its hopes of survival on a big statue and a prehistoric ant with a wasp-like sting, and locals say their plan may just be enough to save their home from extinction.

Key points: Dinosaur ants were discovered at Poochera in 1977

Dinosaur ants were discovered at Poochera in 1977 The ants are linked to the first known ant species which formed from wasps at least 70 million years ago

The ants are linked to the first known ant species which formed from wasps at least 70 million years ago Scientists from around the globe visit to study the ants which are deemed to be living fossils

The last time they did a head count at Poochera the population was 34.

The tiny town in South Australia is along the Eyre Highway which links Perth to Sydney, some 640 kilometres west of Adelaide.

It is a town like hundreds of others across rural Australia — once a thriving community with a population that is slowly shrinking as businesses have closed.

But Poochera has a prehistoric link with some sting in it that just may save the dying town.

It is home to Nothomyrmecia macrops, or what is more commonly known as dinosaur ants.

They are a rare species of ant that are thought to date back at least 70 million years.

Locals are hoping to move the Dinosaur Ant statue into the Poochera town to attract visitors. ( ABC Eyre Peninsula: Jodie Hamilton )

Entomologists and evolutionary biologists visit Poochera from around the world to study the living fossils.

A giant ant statue at the Poochera Roadhouse has helped attract visitors and money to the area.

But after the fuel supplier went into receivership the roadhouse has now closed and Poochera locals want to move the jumbo arthropod off the highway and back into the town to try and draw in some visitors.

It is not the first time the town has lost services. The school closed in the 1970s, the local shop burnt down in 1987 and was never rebuilt, and the garage closed in the past decade.

But Poochera is a community that is refusing to lay down and die, with plans to celebrate its centenary next year.

Fighting extinction

Poochera is a farming centre named after a local Indigenous man named King Poojeri, who died in 1917.

Just like its famous dinosaur ants, Poochera is fighting extinction.

The local pub, the Poochera Hotel, is the last business in town and has picked up some unusual roles, now doubling as the post office and corner store.

Poochera Hotel owners Karen and Jeff Brown increased their opening hours after the local roadhouse closed. ( ABC Eyre Peninsula: Jodie Hamilton )

It is the gateway to the Gawler Ranges, which were part of the attraction for pub owners Jeff and Karen Brown, originally from Sydney, who bought the pub in 2014.

"We fell in love with the area," Mr Brown said.

"It ticks all the boxes for us. It's close to the coast, it's close to the bush, [and is] not a big population— we know everybody in town."

The pub had been closed for two years before they bought it, so a lot of time has been spent on repairs and maintenance.

Pub opens as favour for farmers

The Browns' workload has increased since the roadhouse closure.

With their hearts in retirement, they were happy to just open the pub in the afternoons and evenings but are now doing lunches too, mainly as a favour to the local farmers.

"At the moment we spend a lot of time waiting around in case someone comes in for a hamburger or a hotdog or something," Mr Brown said.

The pub already included a caravan park as well but now they have added the post office, deli lines and gas bottle refills.

Travellers and caravaners are not stopping in Poochera now the roadhouse has closed. ( ABC Eyre Peninsula: Jodie Hamilton )

But the biggest issue has been the lack of fuel for attracting tourists.

"They'll come in and they go, 'Where's the next place we can get fuel?'," Mr Brown said.

"We tell them, 'Wirrulla 45km that way, Streaky Bay 64km that way, Wudinna 70km that way'."

Travellers no longer stopping

While the pub has been busier, the Browns have had fewer caravans staying.

"Because there's no roadhouse, there's nothing to stop them from driving through to the next town," Mr Brown said.

Poochera Historical Society's Rebecca Gosling said the community was working to move the giant ant into the town to draw the visitors off the highway.

Bec Gosling, with daughter McKenna, at the new post office room inside the local pub. ( ABC Eyre Peninsula: Jodie Hamilton )

"We're hoping to create a hub in here where people can come into town and ride on the dinosaur ant and take their photos with it," she said.

Sydney University ecologist Dieter Hochuli said some palaeontologists believed the dinosaur ants resembled some of the earliest ants found in fossils, and had some inherited characters that had been lost in more recent ants.

"They're also special because they are unique," Professor Hochuli said.

"There's just nothing like it anywhere else in the world.

Poochera resident Eileen Lynch has seen the general store, garage and roadhouse all close and now gets her mail from the pub. ( ABC Eyre Peninsula: Jodie Hamilton )

"That's what gives them their dinosaur or living fossil status — they look like the earlier versions of what we have now."

The ants are nocturnal and nest underground, so even the locals do not know where they are.

Mr Brown said they descended from wasps and had quite a sting.

"They get people to stop [in town] and we get people coming to ask about the ants," he said.