Abstract 1. Genetic analysis of feeding preference can make an important contribution to our understanding of the evolution of host‐plant selection in phytophagous insects. Two closely related flea beetles, Altica viridicyanea (Baly) and Altica fragariae Nakane, with separate host plants [Geranium wilfordii Maxim. and Duchesnea indica (Andrews) Focke respectively] were hybridised to analyse the inheritance mode of feeding preference.2. Adult hybrid F1 (A. viridicyanea female × A. fragariae male) preferred G. wilfordii to D. indica in two‐choice tests, regardless of which plant they had fed on as larvae. Adults of one backcross to A. fragariae preferred D. indica to G. wilfordii, and the two backcrosses to A. viridicyanea consumed only a very small percentage of D. indica. Adult females of F2 showed no significant preference, whereas males of F2 showed slight preference for G. wilfordii over D. indica.3. Both the mean feeding preference and the segregation pattern of beetles indicate that the feeding preference of A. viridicyanea and A. fragariae for G. wilfordii and D. indica, respectively, is mainly controlled by a major dominant autosomal gene (or several genes).4. The variance between feeding preference and oviposition preference of female F2 indicate that the two behaviour traits of Altica species are controlled by different gene(s).