The phylogenetic signal of transmissibility (competence) and attack severity among hosts of generalist pests is poorly understood. In this study, we examined the phylogenetic effects on hosts differentially affected by an emergent generalist beetle–pathogen complex in California and South Africa. Host types (non‐competent, competent and killed‐competent) are based on nested types of outcomes of interactions between host plants, the beetles and the fungal pathogens. Phylogenetic dispersion analysis of each host type revealed that the phylogenetic preferences of beetle attack and fungal growth were a nonrandom subset of all available tree and shrub species. Competent hosts were phylogenetically narrower by 62 Myr than the set of all potential hosts, and those with devastating impacts were the most constrained by 107 Myr. Our results show a strong phylogenetic signal in the relative effects of a generalist pest–pathogen complex on host species, demonstrating that the strength of multi‐host pest impacts in plants can be predicted by host evolutionary relationships. This study presents a unifying theoretical approach to identifying likely disease outcomes across multiple host‐pest combinations.

中文翻译：

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寄主进化关系解释了由多病虫害-病原复合体引起的树木死亡

对通才害虫宿主之间的传播（能力）和攻击严重性的系统发育信号了解甚少。在这项研究中，我们研究了在加利福尼亚和南非，对一类受到新出现的甲虫-病原体复合体影响的宿主产生的系统发育影响。寄主类型（非胜任的，胜任的和杀死的胜任力）是基于寄主植物，甲虫和真菌病原体之间相互作用的嵌套结果类型。每种宿主类型的系统发生散布分析表明，甲虫侵袭和真菌生长的系统发育偏好是所有可用树种和灌木物种的非随机子集。合格的宿主在系统发育上比所有潜在宿主的范围窄62 Myr，而具有破坏性影响的宿主受107 Myr的约束最大。我们的结果表明，在通病的病原体复合体对寄主物种的相对影响中，有很强的系统发生信号，这表明可以通过寄主的进化关系来预测植物中多寄主病虫害影响的强度。这项研究提出了一种统一的理论方法，可以识别多种宿主-病虫组合中可能的疾病结果。