A new species of flea beetle (Alticinae) showing male‐biased feeding at withered <i>Heliotropium</i> plants

Abstract

Abstract A new species of chrysomelid beetle from Kenya is described and named Gabonia gabriela Scherer. Microscopic peculiarities of the male antennae are characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy. The males of G.gabriela are attracted to and feed at withered plants of the genus Heliotropium (Boraginaceae) at dusk. No females were found. It is assumed that feeding at Heliotropium provides pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs), but the adaptive significance of the behaviour is not clear. The findings are discussed in the context of utilization of PAs by Lepidoptera.