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4 specimens of 9 to 12.5 mm in size were collected on Pulmonaria.

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Two more views.

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There was one more, almost without reddish hairs and significantly smaller, 7 to 7.5 mm (a male?).

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spectacular series of photos!! :)

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B. major L.

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Thanks Jorge and David.

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Just a short question: are all Bombylius with dark anterior wing margin "major"?

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no, in southern Europe there is the common B. fimbriatus and there are others with similar wing markings.

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Which is the best key for Bombyliidae in central Europe (Swiss&Austrian Alps)? (I know there is a special section for this kind of question, but I guess it fits here)

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For Germany try
Dunk 1994 Ber. Kr. Nurnbg. Ent galathea 10/2 39-48.
cannot vouch for reliability

for ex USSR
Zaitsev [Flies of the European part of the USSR] 43.
not entirely reliable

for GB
Stubbs & Drake 2001 British Soldierflies

but i know of nothing specifically for Swis/austria.

i tend to use Engel 1938 Die Fliegen and lots of keys from the widely scattered liturature. Most are old so taxonomically out of date and rarely cover all the known species. Engel even fails to key all the species he included in the main text!

or you could just send specimens to me and i will do what i can.

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Thanks for the info and the offer,
I'll just collect some more and then I'll see...