Nekrutenko & Effendi (1983) described Lycaena japhetica as a new species in the Lycaena phoenicurus (Lederer, 1872) group, from the valley of the Dizavarchay River in Azerbaijan.
Nekrutenko (1985) described Lycaena japhetica irghiza, a new subspecies, from the Aktobe River in the Irgiz region of Kazakhstan.
Lukhtanov (2000), in a study of this group of Lycaena, retained the specific status of japhetica but transferred its subspecies irghiza to Lycaena dimorpha (Staudinger, 1881).
Tshikolovets (2003), in his book on the butterflies of Eastern Europe, included Lycaena japhetica and indicated three localities on its distribution map: one in Azerbaijan and two in the Irgiz region of Kazakhstan, referring to Nekrutenko & Effendi (1983) and Nekrutenko (1985).
Lvovsky & Morgun (2007) reported the presence of Lycaena dimorpha irghiza in Orenburg Oblast (southern Urals, Russian Federation), relatively close to the border with Kazakhstan.
Wiemers et al. (2018) included Lycaena dimorpha (Staudinger, 1881) in their checklist, based on the record published by Lvovsky & Morgun (2007).
Following Wiemers et al. (2018), Taymans & Cuvelier (2023) included this species in the checklist under its original, non-agreement form Lycaena dimorphus (Staudinger, 1881).
Tshikolovets (2025) mentioned Lycaena japhetica irghiza from the Orenburg region (southern Urals, Russian Federation) and clearly justified his choice of species, correctly noting that Lukhtanov (2000) did not provide a valid justification for the species transfer he proposed. Moreover, the habitus and the male and female genitalia of L. japhetica differ markedly from those of L. dimorpha and in fact show closer similarity to L. athamantis.
As the diagnosis provided by Tshikolovets (2025) appears convincing, Lycaena dimorphus (Staudinger, 1881) will be removed from the checklist and replaced by Lycaena japhetica Nekrutenko & Effendi, 1983.