The specific epithet sloanus honours Sir Hans Sloane (1660–1753),[3][4] an English collector whose collection became the foundation of the British Museum.

Based on current knowledge of extant uraniine species, it is likely that Sloane's urania migrated between patches of host plants, after population explosions locally defoliated them.

[3][6] Habitat loss when Jamaica's lowland rainforests were cleared and converted to agricultural land during the colonial era may have contributed to its extinction, although large parts of primary forest still remain.

U. sloanus species experienced the loss of their main larval host through habitat destruction this was directly linked to abrupt agricultural changes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters (Nazari, 2016).

Century-Old DNA Barcodes \ Reveal Phylogenetic Placement of the Extinct Jamaican Sunset Moth, Urania sloanus Cramer (Lepidoptera: Uraniidae).