In their natural environments, C. elegans integrate a wide array of information to make behavioral decisions. We have previously reported that exposure to the pathogenic bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa can alter the neuronal expression pattern of the DAF-7/TGFß ligand, inducing expression in the ASJ neuron pair of hermaphrodite animals (Meisel, J.D. et al. Cell (2014)). Here, we show that males exhibit the induction of daf-7 expression in the ASJ neuron pair even in the absence of P. aeruginosa. This sexually dimorphic transcriptional switch is turned on in an age-specific manner in adult males and is required for the male-specific mate searching behavior. Moreover, we have found that expression of daf-7 in the male ASJ neurons is dynamically regulated by the availability of bacterial food. We observe that starved male animals repress the activation of daf-7 expression in ASJ that promotes mate-searching behavior. In contrast, when these starved animals are challenged with a pathogenic food source, they rapidly up-regulate daf-7 expression in the ASJ neuron pair indicating that a worm will prioritize pathogen avoidance over seeking food when starved, which in turn is prioritized over mate searching. Our data suggest that sex, development, nutritional state and microbial environment are all integrated in the hierarchical regulation of a transcriptional switch in the ASJ neuron pair to regulate exploratory behavior.