Abstract
We re-examined two morphologically similar species from Japan: Laccophilus lewisius Sharp, 1873, and L. shinobi Yanagi & Akita, 2021. A comparison of the type series of L. shinobi with specimens of L. lewisius revealed that they were almost indistinguishable based on the median lobe, which was originally described as the distinguishing feature. Based on the photographs of instar III larvae taken at the type locality, our examination indicated that the pronotum shape—used to identify instar III larvae— was consistent between the two species. Furthermore, molecular analysis failed to differentiate between the two species. Given these findings, we propose that Laccophilus shinobi Yanagi & Akita, 2021, is a junior synonym of Laccophilus lewisius Sharp, 1873 (syn. nov.)
https://ror.org/03pxeg974 
