As a guess its all to do with metabolism and bodily mechanisms. Not sure about beetles etc. but a bird has a very fast heart rate as does a Mouse which i think accounts for their shorter life span. Size may also have a factor on this as in most cases smaller dogs tend to out live larger breeds. Hope someone can elaborate on this more.

I agree, it also all depends on the organisms lifestyle. Some species of cicada can live up to 17 years, but i believe this is mainly due to the fact that they spend most of it under ground...doing bugger all...except developing but organisms can do that in their sleep. There are always some species that don't fit in, but the metabolism is a good general point. 

some species may only live for short periods of time because it as benefited the species to do so. I can't think of any species this would benefit but i'm sure there are some...some species of crane fly? bacteria? increases the chance of mutations beneficial to the species being passed on and mutations will occur at a faster rate.

feel free to elaborate or i'll ramble without knowing what i'm on about.