First of all,
@River Dane, mantids would
not be looking at the sun
24/7. If you didn't know, that's 24 hours, 7 days a week. If the sun was out for that long well... We may have some issues with our planetary orbit. Anyways, in the wild they have a set amount of time (with
fluxuation) in how long the sun is out vs. the moon. I mean, having the
"sun" shining on you (headlamp) would go against natural law of code. I suggest playing God, and choosing how long the
sun is out. I suggest changing throughout seasons for an optimal experience. Ex: In the summer longer days vise versa. Winter, shorter days vise versa. During winter I suggest doing 10-11 hours with the lamp (starting at roughly 7 AM) and the rest off.
Also, wattage does not have anything to do with brightness, but instead electrical output. Increase output means more heat, in simpler terms. Here's a quote that would sum it up a bit better. "Power (
watts) is volts times amps.” So,
more electrical power means
more heat just as a bigger pile of firewood
mean a bigger fire and
more heat output"
This is something you could do if you had a bit more time on hand. Move the lamps slowly around through out the day, just like the Earth orbiting around the sun.
Hope you learned something!