Background: The current climate change has marked impacts on the phenology of species, i.e. the timing of the various stages of their life cycle. Yet, to fully understand how phenological patterns can be modified according to changes in temperature regimes, it is of prime importance to rely on high quality historical data. Here, we propose a very valuable dataset including individual monitoring from pupation to adult emergence of 46 479 individuals of pine processionary moth (Thaumetopoea pityocampa) surveyed between 1970 and 1984 in southern France along an altitudinal gradient. As optional prolonged diapause occurs in this species, i.e. some individuals experience one or more years of diapause before emerging, the caterpillars sampled in any given year were monitored during up to 5 years. The goal was to give precise information about phenology in this species to further analyse its temporal patterns of variation. New information: This dataset is unique by its richness and the type of data it contains. Phenology in the pine processionary moth is often monitored by the use of pheromone traps in the field, which does not provide all the necessary information, because it is then not possible to trace back the exact origin of the moth trapped, nor to characterise other steps of the life cycle. Moreover, as it corresponds to historical data dating back to the 70s and the 80s, the dataset provides a historical baseline of trends in the pre-warming period.