A data set on Diatraea saccharalis and its parasitoids, Cotesia flavipes and tachinid flies, was analysed at five spatial scales [long dash] sugarcane mill, region, intermediary, farm and zone [long dash] to determine the role of spatial scale in synchrony patterns, and on temporal population variability. To analyse synchrony patterns, only the three highest spatial scales were considered, but for temporal population variability, all spatial scales were adopted. The synchrony-distance relationship revealed complex spatial structures depending on both species and spatial scale. Temporal population variability [SD log(x+1)] levels were highest at the smallest spatial scales although, in the majority of the cases, temporal variability was inversely dependent on sample size. All the species studied, with a few exceptions, presented spatial synchrony independent of spatial scale. The tachinid flies exhibited stronger synchrony dynamics than D. saccharalis and C. flavipes in all spatial scales with the latter displaying the weakest synchrony levels, except when mill spatial scales were compared. In some cases spatial synchrony may at first decay and then increase with distance, but the presence of such patterns can change depending on the spatial scale adopted. Parasites diseases and disorders; Parasites; Insect parasites; Hosts; Insect hosts; Ecology; Habitat; Man made habitat; Land and freshwater zones; Neotropical region; South America Tachinidae; Cotesia flavipes (Braconidae ); Lepidopteran hosts; Diatraea saccharalis; Spatiotemporal host parasite dynamics; Population dynamics; Distribution within habitat; Cultivated land habitat; Brazil; Sao Paulo; Spatiotemporal lepidopteran host parasite dynamics, synchrony patterns analysis, sugarcane fields Diatraea saccharalis (Pyralidae); Dipteran parasites; Tachinidae; Hymenopteran parasites; Cotesia flavipes; Spatiotemporal host parasite dynamics; Population dynamics; Distribution within habitat; Cultivated land habitat; Brazil; Sao Paulo; Spatiotemporal insect parasite host dynamics, synchrony patterns analysis, sugarcane fields none