This dataset contains information on life history variation and population dynamics in response to coloured environmental variation in the laboratory model system comprised of the moth Plodia interpunctella (Pyralidae; Hübner) and the parasitoid wasp Venturia canescens (Ichneumonidae; Gravenhorst). Data were collected from two complementary experiments investigating the effects of daily coloured temperature fluctuations on individual life history variation (single-generation life history experiment) and population dynamics (multi-generation microcosm experiment) in both species. In both experiments, the effects of three types of coloured noise were investigated and compared to constant temperature conditions: blue noise (characterized by rapid (negatively autocorrelated) fluctuations), red noise (characterized by slow (positively autocorrelated) fluctuations) and white noise (characterized by random fluctuations). The life history experiment lasted 56 days and the microcosm experiment lasted 310 days. Full details about this nonGeographicDataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/ef7e47ae-bd28-4449-8587-8e5dda4ccfee